Masterful Root leads England grind against India

Third Rothesay Test, Lord’s (day one of five)

England 251-4: Root 99*, Pope 44, Stokes 39*; Reddy 2-46

India: Yet to bat

England won the toss

Joe Root’s masterful unbeaten 99 held England together on an attritional first day of the third Test against India at Lord’s.

In lethargic conditions, Root showed supreme grit and determination to take the home side to 251-4.

On a slow, dry pitch that looks set to turn and grow uneven as the match progresses, England were forced to curb their attacking instincts in a crawl of barely three runs an over.

In the extreme heat of London, the home crowd cheered when Ben Stokes won the toss and finally chose to bat first. What followed was a battle to score runs because of the surface and collective relentlessness of India’s bowling.

Twice England found themselves up against it: first when Nitish Kumar Reddy removed both openers in the same over to leave the hosts 44-2, then when Ollie Pope and Harry Brook fell after tea in a slide to 172-4.

But the peerless Root added 109 with Pope, who took 104 balls over his 44, then an unbroken 79 with Stokes, the captain moving to 39 not out despite struggling with what looked like a groin injury.

India did little wrong, but captain Shubman Gill’s drop of Pope off his first ball could prove to be vital.

Stokes described the pitch for last week’s heavy defeat in the second Test at Edgbaston as “subcontinental”. One wonders what he must think of this Lord’s surface.

This was the 12th time England have won the toss in a home Test since Stokes took over as captain three years ago and only the second time they have batted first. Given the weather, it seemed the logical decision, though India captain Shubman wanted to field.

From the way the ball swung in the early part of the day, Gill may have had a point. However, with the turn already on offer and the deterioration that will surely follow from the heat that is forecast, a fourth-innings run chase could be difficult. It looks a big week for England spinner Shoaib Bashir.

Conditions can only be judged when both teams have batted. England’s attack, including the returning Jofra Archer, will have to match the discipline shown by India.

Similarly, the tourists will need to find someone to match the effort of Root, who had to fight himself, the opposition and pitch to make such a vital contribution.

There have been plenty of occasions in the Bazball era when England have been criticised for a lack of flexibility in their desire to attack. Not on this day. A run-rate of 3.02 is their slowest for a total in excess of 200 since Stokes and Brendon McCullum took charge.

They were led by Root, the man with the most Test runs and centuries on this ground. While this was far from one of his most fluent knocks, he drew on every ounce of his skill, nous and experience.

England were wobbling when Root joined Pope, who had already been put down by Gill at gully from the first ball he faced off Reddy. Pope was typically skittish but it is to his credit that he dug in alongside Root, who almost ran his partner out with a short single to mid-wicket when Pope had 19.

Both men pushed through the covers, Root played his trademark dabs to third man. From the first ball after tea, Pope’s cross-batted drive at Jadeja resulted in an edge that was brilliantly held by substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel.

England were teetering again as Stokes, short of runs, arrived after Brook was bowled. The skipper partnered Root in the trenches, limping for most of his time at the crease.

India deserved more from the day and, if they are to have the worst of the batting conditions later on, they will need Pant to recover.

He had already had treatment on his hand when he took a further blow diving down the leg side off Bumrah. Pant left after 34 overs and was not seen again, yet it can be argued he would not have held the difficult edge off Pope. Jurel is a fine keeper.

With Bumrah back in the side, India were superb in the first hour, providing a stern examination of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley. Their stand of 43 was creditable, but Crawley’s chaotic and constant movement around the crease illustrated a lack of confidence.

Fourth seamer Reddy was an unlikely source of success in his sensational first over. Duckett was caught down the leg side, Pope should have got a golden duck and then Crawley edged a beautiful away-swinger. The opener averages less than 25 since returning from a broken finger at the end of last year.

Maybe Gill should have used the spinners earlier than the 48th over in which Jadeja was introduced, though the swing for the seamers was hard to resist. After Jadeja removed Pope, Bumrah found movement down the Lord’s slope to bowl Brook through the gate, continuing a trend of the Yorkshireman’s dismissals to deliveries that come back in.

England batter Ollie Pope speaking to Test Match Special: “I just got asked what par was and I have no idea. Pretty slow pitch, not one that you always felt in on.

“Slightly different to the way we usually put together an innings, but we’ll take it.

“I managed to face 100-odd balls, but made a pretty annoying error after tea. It’s annoying not to be 90-odd not out with Joe at the close, but I can take positives.”

England bowler Mark Wood on TMS: “That’s slightly England’s day. If India had taken another wicket I might have tipped them.